Saudi ambassador lashes out at UN Security Council, stands by seat rejection

The United Nations Security Council votes on a resolution that will require Syria to give up its chemical weapon, at U.N. Headquarters, in this photo taken Friday, Sept. 27, 2013. (AP / Craig Ruttle)

Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador lashed out at the Security Council and indicated that his country is standing by its decision to reject a seat it was elected to on the UN's most powerful body.

Abdallah Al-Mouallimi delivered a scathing attack on the council's failure to end the Israeli-Palestinian and Syria conflicts and to convene a conference on creating a nuclear free zone in the Middle East at a meeting Tuesday on Mideast issues.

It was his first public appearance following the government's stunning about-face Friday when it rejected a council seat hours after the General Assembly elected Saudi Arabia to serve a two-year term.

Al-Mouallimi referred reporters asking whether the government would send an official letter to the UN rejecting the seat to Friday's Foreign Ministry statement.